On Wings of Chrome

Some days, saving lives is the easy part.

Robert "Bob" Longbough

More than just a pilot and a functional alcoholic. He's a survivor.

Description:

The years have not been kind to Captain Robert Longbough. He might be only 45 years young but he could easily be mistaken for 60. His face is carved with old scars and weary wrinkles. His hair is long and tangled from neglect. It’s wiry with heavy grey mixed in with what might have once been a dark blond. Bob is perpetually dirty, especially his hands and face. Grease, dirt and blood from forgotten wounds stain everything he touches.

He always wears the same filthy denim suit that never seems to fit properly. It’s an armored outfit he won in a game of Russian Roulette with an Angolan officer during his stint with the French Foreign Legion. It is one of the few material objects Bob cares about along with his Colt .44 revolver “Brenda”. Another acquired relic from the old war.

Bio:

Bob was born and raised in the heart of the Appalachian wilderness in West Virginia. He was the oldest of three boys. His family life was difficult but not abnormal for the rural folks of the region. His father worked in the coal mines and died in a cave-in when young Robert was only 13. His mother’s mental health deteriorated quickly after that as she struggled to care for 3 children on a single income in a desperate economy.

Bob was an extremely intelligent young man. He excelled in his studies and graduated high school with a full ride scholarship to a state university where he studied engineering in the hopes of finding a good career at graduation. It was at that point that the whole world started to go to hell. By the time Bob graduated the US was deep into the first Central American War.

Bob was recruited into the Army right out of college. Aptitude tests determined that he could make a decent AV pilot. He agreed to join partly out of a sense of patriotism and partly out of a desire to change the course of his life. Bob struggled to justify his existence. Life in West Virginia was difficult and very boring. Something in young Robert craved adventure. Here he was being offered an opportunity to seek out that adventure while serving his country.

He spent most of his first 4 years as an AV pilot in the first Central American war. It was during this time that Bob discovered two things about himself. First, he was an incredibly capable pilot. Second, he thrived in the chaos and terror of armed conflict.

At war’s end, Bob returned home to find his hometown taken over by corporate interests seeking to control the remaining coal reserves. Foreign workers were brought in to work the mines and the people of the region were getting more and more desperate.